Mr George Galloway

30 November 2006

Q500  Sir Philip Mawer: Yes. I did look into that matter and I was satisfied on the basis of the information I was given as to the nature of the Appeal account.

Mr Galloway: Sir Philip, if you are satisfied, I am satisfied. The E Laing is the mystery bit which remains.

Q501  Sir Philip Mawer: He or she, well she it is assumed because the name given was Elaine, is indeed a mystery as far as both you and I are concerned. The cheques made out to Mr Halford totalled £45,000. He was also in receipt of salary payments.

Mr Galloway: I am not asking about his salary, but £45,000 as you indicated. I am quoting you: "This seemed a lot of money purely for office expenses". He has since satisfied you?

Q502  Sir Philip Mawer: He has indeed. He has gone through all the matters.

Mr Galloway: In that case, I am satisfied too.

Mr McKay: By providing records and books?

Q503  Sir Philip Mawer: By providing indications as to what the particular expenditure had been spent on.

Mr McKay: Indications or records?

Q504  Sir Philip Mawer: Such documentary evidence as he was able to provide in the circumstances.

Mr Galloway: If you are satisfied, I am satisfied. We just want to get to the bottom of Laing.

Q505  Sir Philip Mawer: We might note that Dr Abu-Zayyad also received £41,000 in salary from the Appeal and cheques worth £20,000. Various people were in receipt of substantial sums of money in the form of cheques. We were speaking about Boxing Day 1999 and you gave me your answer in relation to that. Can I confirm was Mr Fawaz Zureikat one of the people you met on that day?

Mr Galloway: Yes, he was staying in the hotel with me.

Q506  Sir Philip Mawer: A question which was left over from our first interview. When I put the question to you about when you had written the "to whom it may concern" letter about Mr Fawaz Zureikat, you said to me at that time that you thought you had written it in 2000. I wonder whether you have had any opportunity to narrow that timescale or frame down at all?

Mr Galloway: No, I am afraid not.

Q507  Sir Philip Mawer: Can we come now to the evidence of Mr Tony Zureikat?

Mr Galloway: With relish!

Q508  Sir Philip Mawer: What do you wish to say in relation to Mr Zureikat?

Mr Galloway: This man is wanted for forgery, deception, fraud and theft in Jordan. With your contacts you will easily be able to ascertain that. I am outraged that you gave the respectful hearing you did to a man who is an absolute out and out fraudster, whose motives are crystal clear, even from the transcript you gave. This substantial document is a tissue of lies. I have already said to you in my letter how absurd the lies are. He describes me going for a drink with him, drinking whiskey with a member of the Jordanian Royal Family and drinking vodka with Russians. I have never in my life tasted whiskey or vodka or any other kind of alcohol, I am a teetotaller. It is well known, it is written about and you can Google it. This in itself shows that this man is a fantasist, but it is not the only falsehood and it is not the most important falsehood. I think it ought to provide a reference point to you as to his veracity and probity. He stated, as I said to you in my letter, that Dr Abu-Zayyad regularly crossed the bridge from Palestine to Jordan and thence to Lebanon in some kind of money collection and depositing trail. I told you in my letter that she has never crossed the bridge between Palestine and Jordan since 1993 and she had never been in Palestine between 1993 and the date which I gave you in the letter. In other words, the money trail that he sat here—and you were very sympathetic to him, you knew how difficult it was for him, even giving him cigarette breaks—solemnly telling you about was a pack of lies. I have never been in Morocco with Fawaz Zureikat. I have never been in Morocco at the same time as Fawaz Zureikat. Therefore, his claim that I regularly travelled to Morocco, which I did not as my passports can prove, is false. Any time I went to Morocco I did not meet Zureikat there. Therefore his whole story about the withdrawal of 200,000 in order to fly to Morocco and give it to me is a complete lie. The business deals that he describes in here are either figments of his imagination or, at least so far as they involve me, are completely false. I have never been in any of the places that he talked about. I have never been with Russians. Even the United States Senate did not accuse me of being involved in arms deals. I never met Russians in Baghdad. I was waiting, as I read it, for the North Koreans to pop up because it is practically the only allegation which is not made here. This is a tissue of lies by an inveterate liar whose motives are clear and who is a wanted criminal.

Q509  Sir Philip Mawer: On what basis do you say he is a wanted criminal? Have you evidence to prove to me that is a correct statement?

Mr Galloway: We have already established that you have your own means of finding these things out and I am sure you will do so.

Q510  Sir Philip Mawer: That is your allegation in relation to him?

Mr Galloway: That is right.

Q511  Sir Philip Mawer: Can I ask you some specific questions about him from his evidence? Have you ever, in fact, met Tony Zureikat?

Mr Galloway: Yes.

Q512  Sir Philip Mawer: Where did you meet him?

Mr Galloway: In Baghdad.

Q513  Sir Philip Mawer: Did you meet him initially on 8 and 9 October 2001?

Mr Galloway: I have no idea.

Q514  Sir Philip Mawer: You said you met him in Baghdad, how many times have you met him in Baghdad?

Mr Galloway: I think once but maybe twice and both times in the office of Mr Fawaz Zureikat.

Q515  Sir Philip Mawer: Might one of those occasions have been October 2001?

Mr Galloway: I honestly have no idea; he was a completely unmemorable figure to me until I read this.

Q516  Sir Philip Mawer: Might another occasion have been in August 2002?

Mr Galloway: I have no idea.

Q517  Sir Philip Mawer: Mr Tony Zureikat alleges that you travelled with him to Baghdad in October 2001. What is your response?

Mr Galloway: That is a lie. That is the occasion when I was drinking whiskey with a member of the Jordanian Royal Family!

Q518  Sir Philip Mawer: It is the allegation in the transcript.

Mr Galloway: Unless your opinion of me is so low that you think I am a pretend teetotaller, this statement cannot possibly be true. It cannot be true that he witnessed me drinking whiskey with a member of the Jordanian Royal Family because I have never tasted whiskey in my life.

Q519  Sir Philip Mawer: That was not the question I was putting to you, I was asking you whether you had travelled with Mr Tony Zureikat.

Mr Galloway: No, but you can understand why I am upset about it.